Announcements Teachers: Please collect the grade check signatures from Friday. Teacher's Choice Award for those who have them! This Thursday is Picture Day! Prepare your picture packets and your outfits (must still meet iMiddle dress code policies). 8th graders: There is a meeting tomorrow at 6:00PM in the Auditorium to provide information about this year's 8th Grade East Coast Trip. If you plan on participating, have your parent/guardian come tomorrow. If you have any questions, see Mr. Urbino.
Today's Focus: Growing our Brains
Last Monday we learned about growth mindsets and fixed mindsets. Who can explain how they are different? (Have a student share)
We also identified some fixed mindset statements that we may "hear" or tell ourselves when we are faced with tough challenges. It is important that we continually remind ourselves of our growth mindset statements so that we can overcome these challenges! Let's take a moment to review some of the statements we created or just review Calvin's below...
Today we take a look at how we can apply our growth mindset to actually grow our brains. Watch this Video (2:30)
Activity: Train Your Brain
So, just like any muscle in the body, the brain grows when it is challenged. The following problem will require you to think with a growth mindset. Get into teams of 3 or 4 to solve the problem below. Imagine that your team is given a candle, a box of thumbtacks, and a book of matches. Together you must figure out how to use only these items to affix the lit candle to the wall so that the dripping wax will not drip onto the ground. You have 7 minutes to find a solution.
Teachers can set the timer to 7:00 minutes here.
Click 7, 0, 0
then "set"
then "start"
Get a Stopwatch like this or make your own! At: Online Stopwatch
Discussion
1. Share out some of the ideas your group discussed.
2. Click here for the solution
3. Did your group find a solution that worked? How many ideas did you group come up with overall?
4. Is it possible to solve this problem with a fixed mindset? Explain your reasoning.
Even if your group did not come up with a workable solution, you did work out your brain!
Congratulations! Your brain is now stronger than it was this morning.
Terrific Tuesday Announcements Please remember that your device is to be used only for school purposes. Your service may be suspended if used inappropriately. The Library is open today after school from 3:00 to 4:00 for students who want to work on homework.
Club/Sport Reminders:
Robotics meets today from 3:00-4:00 in room S4 with Mr. Nusser!
8th graders: There is a meeting tomorrow at 6:00PM in the Auditorium to provide information about this year's 8th Grade East Coast Trip. If you plan on participating, have your parent/guardian come tomorrow. If you have any questions, see Mr. Urbino. Tomorrow's Wacky Wednesday is Backwards Shirt Day!
Today we will be focusing on different aspects of cheating. Teachers can find the 6th and 7th grade right below; 8th grade teachers will need to skip down to "8th Grade Lesson." Teachers with a mixed advisory may choose which lesson to follow.
6th & 7th Grade Lesson
Today's Focus: Cheating vs. Helping Class Read: Read the following article together and decide whether the teacher is helping her students.
ATLANTA (CBS Atlanta) – A former fifth-grade teacher implicated in a cheating scandal reportedly gave students the illegal assistance because she thought they were “dumb.”
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, math teacher Shayla Smith was accused of offering students the answers to a test they were taking at the time. She had reportedly been responsible for supervising them while the tests were being completed.
Schajuan Jones, who taught a fourth-grade class across the hall from Smith’s former room, overheard her talking to another teacher about the test. “The words were, ‘I had to give your kids[your students] the answers because they’re dumb,’” Jones was quoted as saying about the interaction between Smith and the unidentified third teacher. A former student also allegedly accused Smith of cheating, adding that the educator offered the girl, now in eighth grade, the answers to a math test in 2010.
The tribunal deliberated for just one hour before handing down a guilty verdict. Smith had been charged with willful neglect and immorality, and she subsequently lost her job.
Smith’s case was part of a larger investigation that implicated approximately 180 public school teachers in the city, sparked by investigations performed by the newspaper. All tests proctored by Smith were allegedly marked with suspicious erasure marks, amounting to what was termed a “practically impossible frequency of changes from wrong to right [answers].”
Class Discussion
What did this teacher do?
What do her actions and statements reveal about how she truly viewed the students?
How do you think the students felt about her “help” in the short term? In the long term (when they were older)?
What could she have done differently to actually help her students?
Responsible teachers and students do genuinely want to help others and that’s a good thing. The best way to truly support someone with their classwork is not to do the work for them like we saw above. That's called cheating.
Watch this video for an example of what students help can look like compared to cheating.
Brainstorm: We just covered two forms of cheating that could happen in the classroom. What are some other forms of cheating that could happen? See how many you can come up with in two minutes. 1. Changing another students' answers 2. Giving someone your work to copy 3. ???
When you help someone cheat you are basically saying, "I don't think you can do this, so I am going to do it for you." Not only is this insulting, it takes away the person's opportunity to grow. The next time someone asks for your help, help them grow by:
Asking questions to help them realize that they know how to get the answer. This shows that you respect their ability to think on their own.
Pointing out the resources they have in class. Show them where to find specific resources that they may not have used before.
Guiding them through the given problem-solving steps that you used to solve the problem. So they can LEARN how to do it on their own.
Remember: iMiddle students are expected to show what they know and do their own work. Like the song goes...
Today, we’re going to talk about the importance of avoiding plagiarism and cheating. Both of these are serious issues with serious consequences.
What is cheating? Cheating means to act unfairly or dishonestly in order to get some kind of benefit. Consider the following real world scenario:
There is a case in a Colorado High School in which a member of a Lacrosse team was caught cheating on video tape. This was not a case of cheating on a math or history exam in a classroom but of hiding the ball in his hand and sneakily tossing it into the goal. Even his opponent could not detect what was happening even though he was right there. It was only one judge and a review of the video tape that revealed the cheating.
The State High School Athletic League decided to suspend the team for the remainder of the season and, thereby, strip the team of the opportunity to compete in the championship series.
The parents of the students on the offending team publicly came out against the decision made by the State Athletic League. The rational of the parents is that athletes always "bend" or "break" the rules. What seems to have evaded their thinking was that this was not a case of bending the rules but of down right and deliberate cheating.
You decide! Discuss the following points in think/pair/share format.
Is it okay to cheat if it helps your team win?
Are there any situations in which it is okay to cheat at school?
Now let's consider cheating in the classroom. Take a look at this list and decide as a class what is considered cheating.
You didn’t do your homework at all so you copy it from another student Yes/No
During a test, you look at someone else’s paper and copy their answers Yes/No
You write some information on your hand before a test (such as PEMDAS) Yes/No
You didn’t finish a project on time so you tell your parents you’re sick to stay home to work on the project Yes/No
You let your older brother/sister/parent do your homework for you Yes/No
Another important form of cheating is called plagiarism. Plagiarism is a type of cheating; it means to take someone else’s words or ideas and then try to pass them off as your own. Watch this video to get the basics:
Discuss
What was Johnny doing?
What were his consequences?
At iMiddle if you get caught plagiarizing, you may be given a 0 for that work you may have to do the assignment over again or just earn a 0. Remember, you earn credit for your own work.
Now let's play a game called: "Is this my work?" Read the following and decide whether you would earn credit for your work. Scenario 1: You have a project to turn in on the history of Mexico’s independence. So you copy and paste some information from a website into an essay or PowerPoint. Yay or Nay: Is this plagiarism? What grade should you get?
Scenario 2: You are writing an essay for English class and you decide to include an idea from your favorite book. You take a specific line from the book and use a thesaurus to change a few words to “make it your own”… Yay or Nay: Is this plagiarism? What grade should you get?
Remember: iMiddle students are expected to show what they know and do their own work. Like the song goes...
Announcements
Picture Day is tomorrow during your PE period. Be sure to look your best and bring in your ordering packet.
1. PowerSchool Grade Check: Log-in and see if you have any missing work. Turn in these assignments by tomorrow morning!
2. Watch this week's iMiddle News
Thinking Thursday
Announcements
The Library is open today after school from 3:00 to 4:00 for students who want to work on homework.
Tomorrow night, the Madison vs. Patrick Henry football game will be FREE for all iMiddle students (and Madison cluster elementary and middle schools). Students MUST bring a parent to gain free admission. Meet at Madison in front of the Performing Arts Center at 6:00 to get in free and have special seating. Parking space is available behind the Performing Arts Center and concessions will be available for purchase.
All students with a ZAP PASS should come to the Library to ZAP their zeroes now.
Write down 5 things that you are really interested in.
Write down 4 ways you spend your free time.
Write down 3 things you want to learn about.
Write down 2 things you would want to learn how to make.
Write down 1 local or world problem that you would like to see solved.
Discuss your list with a partner.
Genius Hour:
“We are about to start our own Genius Hour in Advisory. This is an opportunity to learn about something that you are interested in. You will learn more details about Genius Hour next week, but your class is going to work together on a project. In order to get started, we need to know what interests you, so that we can choose a project together. You just discussed lots of ideas that can make for a wonderful Genius Hour project. Please fill out the form to let us know about your interests!”
Announcements Tennis with Mr. Vosburgh will meet out on the courts today after school Tonight's Madison vs. Patrick Henry football game will be FREE for all iMiddle students (and Madison cluster elementary and middle schools). Remember, students MUST bring a parent to gain free admission. Meet at Madison in front of the Performing Arts Center at 6:00 to get in free and have special seating. Parking space is available behind the Performing Arts Center and concessions will be available for purchase.
All students with a ZAP PASS should come to the Library at the end of 7th period. If your ZAP pass is signed, turn it in so you can be released. If your ZAP pass is not signed, prepare to work on any missing assignments. If you have 2 or less tardies on your PAC card, you get to go to lunch 5 minutes early!
Today's Focus: Inspiration from One Generous Genius Yesterday you had an opportunity to identify and share some of your interests that you may explore this year through Genius Hour. Today we will take a look at how one prominent person is solving real world problems he is interested in by using his skills, knowledge and resources. Watch this 60 Minutes Interview to learn more: Bill Gates 2.0
Video Response: 60 Seconds to Think/Pair/Share Teachers: Read each question with the class and give students 60 seconds to think about a response, 60 seconds to discuss their thoughts in pairs, and then share answers as a class as time permits. 1. As we heard in the video, Bill Gates believes that inventions are the key to success. How is he impacting the "bottom 2 billion" through inventions? 2. Recall one of the inventions Bill and his team created. What are some of the questions you think they probably had in the creating process? Example: How can we keep vaccinations cold without electricity? 3. What resources did he have available to him to solve these problems? Teachers: list out these ideas as they share them. 4. What did you think when you heard that Bill Gates read books about fertilizer?
Looking back on your list, is reading books included as a resource? If not, go ahead and add it. Now review the resource list and identify which resources you also have available to you for your Genius Hour project.
5. Bill Gates leads a "Genius Hour" lifestyle by dedicating his time to help others through innovating. In this way, he demonstrates both curiosity and generosity. We learned that Bill is generous now because of his dad's influence. What characteristics do you have that you could contribute in our Genius hour project? Who in your life has helped you develop this characteristic?
iMiddle Monday: Wear your Blue & Gray!
AnnouncementsTeachers: Please collect the grade check signatures from Friday. Teacher's Choice Award for those who have them!
This Thursday is Picture Day! Prepare your picture packets and your outfits (must still meet iMiddle dress code policies).
8th graders: There is a meeting tomorrow at 6:00PM in the Auditorium to provide information about this year's 8th Grade East Coast Trip. If you plan on participating, have your parent/guardian come tomorrow. If you have any questions, see Mr. Urbino.
Today's Focus: Growing our Brains
Last Monday we learned about growth mindsets and fixed mindsets. Who can explain how they are different? (Have a student share)
We also identified some fixed mindset statements that we may "hear" or tell ourselves when we are faced with tough challenges. It is important that we continually remind ourselves of our growth mindset statements so that we can overcome these challenges! Let's take a moment to review some of the statements we created or just review Calvin's below...
Today we take a look at how we can apply our growth mindset to actually grow our brains.
Watch this Video (2:30)
Video link if needed
Activity: Train Your Brain
So, just like any muscle in the body, the brain grows when it is challenged. The following problem will require you to think with a growth mindset. Get into teams of 3 or 4 to solve the problem below.
Imagine that your team is given a candle, a box of thumbtacks, and a book of matches. Together you must figure out how to use only these items to affix the lit candle to the wall so that the dripping wax will not drip onto the ground. You have 7 minutes to find a solution.
Teachers can set the timer to 7:00 minutes here.
Click 7, 0, 0
then "set"
then "start"
Get a Stopwatch like this or make your own! At: Online Stopwatch
Discussion
1. Share out some of the ideas your group discussed.
2. Click here for the solution
3. Did your group find a solution that worked? How many ideas did you group come up with overall?
4. Is it possible to solve this problem with a fixed mindset? Explain your reasoning.
Even if your group did not come up with a workable solution, you did work out your brain!
Congratulations! Your brain is now stronger than it was this morning.
Terrific Tuesday
Announcements
Please remember that your device is to be used only for school purposes. Your service may be suspended if used inappropriately.
The Library is open today after school from 3:00 to 4:00 for students who want to work on homework.
Club/Sport Reminders:
8th graders: There is a meeting tomorrow at 6:00PM in the Auditorium to provide information about this year's 8th Grade East Coast Trip. If you plan on participating, have your parent/guardian come tomorrow. If you have any questions, see Mr. Urbino.
Tomorrow's Wacky Wednesday is Backwards Shirt Day!
Today we will be focusing on different aspects of cheating. Teachers can find the 6th and 7th grade right below; 8th grade teachers will need to skip down to "8th Grade Lesson." Teachers with a mixed advisory may choose which lesson to follow.
6th & 7th Grade Lesson
Today's Focus: Cheating vs. HelpingClass Read: Read the following article together and decide whether the teacher is helping her students.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, math teacher Shayla Smith was accused of offering students the answers to a test they were taking at the time. She had reportedly been responsible for supervising them while the tests were being completed.
Schajuan Jones, who taught a fourth-grade class across the hall from Smith’s former room, overheard her talking to another teacher about the test. “The words were, ‘I had to give your kids[your students] the answers because they’re dumb,’” Jones was quoted as saying about the interaction between Smith and the unidentified third teacher. A former student also allegedly accused Smith of cheating, adding that the educator offered the girl, now in eighth grade, the answers to a math test in 2010.
The tribunal deliberated for just one hour before handing down a guilty verdict. Smith had been charged with willful neglect and immorality, and she subsequently lost her job.
Smith’s case was part of a larger investigation that implicated approximately 180 public school teachers in the city, sparked by investigations performed by the newspaper. All tests proctored by Smith were allegedly marked with suspicious erasure marks, amounting to what was termed a “practically impossible frequency of changes from wrong to right [answers].”
Class Discussion
Responsible teachers and students do genuinely want to help others and that’s a good thing. The best way to truly support someone with their classwork is not to do the work for them like we saw above. That's called cheating.
Watch this video for an example of what students help can look like compared to cheating.
Brainstorm: We just covered two forms of cheating that could happen in the classroom. What are some other forms of cheating that could happen? See how many you can come up with in two minutes.
1. Changing another students' answers
2. Giving someone your work to copy
3. ???
When you help someone cheat you are basically saying, "I don't think you can do this, so I am going to do it for you." Not only is this insulting, it takes away the person's opportunity to grow. The next time someone asks for your help, help them grow by:
Remember: iMiddle students are expected to show what they know and do their own work. Like the song goes...
Video link if needed
8th Grade Lesson Focus: Cheating & Plagiarism
Today, we’re going to talk about the importance of avoiding plagiarism and cheating. Both of these are serious issues with serious consequences.What is cheating? Cheating means to act unfairly or dishonestly in order to get some kind of benefit. Consider the following real world scenario:
There is a case in a Colorado High School in which a member of a Lacrosse team was caught cheating on video tape. This was not a case of cheating on a math or history exam in a classroom but of hiding the ball in his hand and sneakily tossing it into the goal. Even his opponent could not detect what was happening even though he was right there. It was only one judge and a review of the video tape that revealed the cheating.
The State High School Athletic League decided to suspend the team for the remainder of the season and, thereby, strip the team of the opportunity to compete in the championship series.
The parents of the students on the offending team publicly came out against the decision made by the State Athletic League. The rational of the parents is that athletes always "bend" or "break" the rules. What seems to have evaded their thinking was that this was not a case of bending the rules but of down right and deliberate cheating.
You decide! Discuss the following points in think/pair/share format.
Now let's consider cheating in the classroom.
Take a look at this list and decide as a class what is considered cheating.
Another important form of cheating is called plagiarism. Plagiarism is a type of cheating; it means to take someone else’s words or ideas and then try to pass them off as your own. Watch this video to get the basics:
What is Plagiarism? Video link
Discuss
What was Johnny doing?
What were his consequences?
At iMiddle if you get caught plagiarizing, you may be given a 0 for that work you may have to do the assignment over again or just earn a 0. Remember, you earn credit for your own work.
Now let's play a game called: "Is this my work?" Read the following and decide whether you would earn credit for your work.
Scenario 1: You have a project to turn in on the history of Mexico’s independence. So you copy and paste some information from a website into an essay or PowerPoint.
Yay or Nay: Is this plagiarism? What grade should you get?
Scenario 2: You are writing an essay for English class and you decide to include an idea from your favorite book. You take a specific line from the book and use a thesaurus to change a few words to “make it your own”…
Yay or Nay: Is this plagiarism? What grade should you get?
Remember: iMiddle students are expected to show what they know and do their own work. Like the song goes...
Video link if needed
Wacky Wednesday
AnnouncementsPicture Day is tomorrow during your PE period. Be sure to look your best and bring in your ordering packet.
1. PowerSchool Grade Check: Log-in and see if you have any missing work. Turn in these assignments by tomorrow morning!
2. Watch this week's iMiddle News
Thinking Thursday
AnnouncementsToday's Focus: Introduction to Genius Hour
Future Focused Friday
AnnouncementsTennis with Mr. Vosburgh will meet out on the courts today after school
Tonight's Madison vs. Patrick Henry football game will be FREE for all iMiddle students (and Madison cluster elementary and middle schools). Remember, students MUST bring a parent to gain free admission. Meet at Madison in front of the Performing Arts Center at 6:00 to get in free and have special seating. Parking space is available behind the Performing Arts Center and concessions will be available for purchase.
All students with a ZAP PASS should come to the Library at the end of 7th period. If your ZAP pass is signed, turn it in so you can be released. If your ZAP pass is not signed, prepare to work on any missing assignments.
If you have 2 or less tardies on your PAC card, you get to go to lunch 5 minutes early!
Today's Focus: Inspiration from One Generous Genius
Yesterday you had an opportunity to identify and share some of your interests that you may explore this year through Genius Hour. Today we will take a look at how one prominent person is solving real world problems he is interested in by using his skills, knowledge and resources. Watch this 60 Minutes Interview to learn more: Bill Gates 2.0
Video Response: 60 Seconds to Think/Pair/Share
Teachers: Read each question with the class and give students 60 seconds to think about a response, 60 seconds to discuss their thoughts in pairs, and then share answers as a class as time permits.
1. As we heard in the video, Bill Gates believes that inventions are the key to success. How is he impacting the "bottom 2 billion" through inventions?
2. Recall one of the inventions Bill and his team created. What are some of the questions you think they probably had in the creating process? Example: How can we keep vaccinations cold without electricity?
3. What resources did he have available to him to solve these problems? Teachers: list out these ideas as they share them.
4. What did you think when you heard that Bill Gates read books about fertilizer?
- Looking back on your list, is reading books included as a resource? If not, go ahead and add it. Now review the resource list and identify which resources you also have available to you for your Genius Hour project.
5. Bill Gates leads a "Genius Hour" lifestyle by dedicating his time to help others through innovating. In this way, he demonstrates both curiosity and generosity. We learned that Bill is generous now because of his dad's influence. What characteristics do you have that you could contribute in our Genius hour project? Who in your life has helped you develop this characteristic?